Well, we're here in the great state of Texas. We landed a week ago, and it has felt like a whirlwind already. Today is the first day I've sat down and tried to respond to emails and think. Combine jetlag with culture shock, and you've got yourself a nice helping of brain fog. I find myself looking into a car to see where the steering wheel is so I know which side to get in on. I've also tried several times to turn the bathroom light on from the outside of the bathroom (there's no plug outlets or light switches inside a bathroom in SA). It's so funny the things you get used to.

Isn't my girl too cute? She packed more stuff than any of us. We told her she had to carry her own stuff and amazingly, she did. She looks just like her daddy toting around her guitar. If you need any helpful tips for packing for a trip, I've got you covered over at Petit Elefant.

Welcome to In The Studio, a place to show off your studio and meet some great artists! I'm having a grand time in the great state of Texas. I haven't had much time for creativity this week, but never fear. Jennifer of Studio JRU is here today showing us some experimenting she's been doing lately! Welcome, Jennifer!

i have been having some fun with experimenting lately in my studio! i took a little trip to my hobby lobby and picked out some new paint colors. a little brighter and lighter than colors i typically gravitate to and then started playing around with some new techniques.

lots of layering. lots. i have always loved the look and idea of quilts. and have used scrapbook paper in many of my art pieces to achieve a similar look. i love all the patterns together. so i wanted to try and get this sort of look using only paints with layering and texture. i like what i am seeing so far!

so the playing will continue and perhaps i will have some new art completed soon!

***

make sure to share the 'in the studio' link up party with all of your creative friends! you can link up any kind of creative post... cooking, sewing, gardening, painting, decorating, writing, photography... anything is welcome!

looking forward to visiting all of you to see what kind of creative goodness you have been up to lately!

Thank you, Jennifer! These results are absolutely stunning! I love it! Now it's your turn! Remember your "studio" can be anywhere. Let's celebrate each other's creativity by linking up and visiting as many as the other studios as you can. Check out the about post for more info and don't forget to grab the In The Studio button!

Welcome to In The Studio, a place to show off your studio and meet some great artists! I have a whirlwind week as we get ready to set off on a 2 1/2 month adventure in the USA, England, and Romania. Packing for a long overseas trip is work in itself, but I've also had the task of making sure work areas are covered in our absence. Last week, I thought, "I'm doing pretty good here. I'm not feeling stressed at all." Well, this week it's been an onslaught of all those "little" things that only seem to appear right before you leave. Joy.

In the midst of the craziness, however, we were able to celebrate our firstborn's 12th birthday with lots of friends. We tend to do birthdays big with a grand theme. It's crazy and a lot of work, but I love the thought and creativity put into it. Mostly I love it, because we're celebrating someone's life! Joshua is a huge fan of the Tintin series, so he decided he wanted a Tintin birthday party. It.was.so.much.fun to prepare for. I'll try not to get too long winded here.

Planning the activities was probably my favorite part. My kids LOVE scavenger hunts, so I made a map for them and had Emma Grace draw pictures on it. The map was super easy. To make it look old, I painted it with coffee. After it was dry, I crumpled it up and burned the edges with a match. That's it! I hid clues all over our property which led them to Red Rackham's treasure. Once they reached X marks the spot, an iPad was there waiting for them to tell them the crime and the list of suspects. I have some awesome friends who played their roles amazingly. Thank you, guys! I chose a simple, non-violent crime. As recorded on the iPad...

The Crime

Captain Haddock returned home after a long morning walk in the meadow only to discover a window in his house had been broken! Blistering barnacles! This puts Captain Haddock in a very contrary mood. Tintin, can you and your super smart dog, Snowy, find the culprit of this crime? Grab your detective friends and interview your list of suspects. Thompson and Thomson gathered some evidence. You know how helpful they are. You might be better off examining the evidence yourself. Please solve this so Captain Haddock isn't in such an angry mood!

{The evidence consisted of a piece of glass with a partial fingerprint on it, a cup with a lipstick mark, a muddy shoe print on a piece of paper (lifted from the crime scene, you know), a piece of candy with a bite taken out of it, and a note written to Captain Haddock.}

The Suspects

The kids went around and interviewed all of the suspects and the detectives. I worried the crime would be too easy, but it seemed I had just enough leads to throw them off a bit. We played until everyone was able to solve the crime. The culprit was Bianca Castafiore. When she went to sing the birthday song, she knocked on the window and the glass fell and broke. She was so distraught over it that she dropped the cup she was drinking out of and the candy she was eating and ran away. Most of the kids discovered it was her by examining the partial footprint.

All the kids really seemed to have a good time, a mark of a good party, I say! I'm looking forward to seeing what you've been up to this week!

Now it's your turn! Remember your "studio" can be anywhere. Let's celebrate each other's creativity by linking up and visiting as many as the other studios as you can. Check out the about post for more info and don't forget to grab the In The Studio button!

I recently shared some of my favorite destinations along Pretoria's antique route over on Petit Elefant. Even if you don't have a trip planned to S. Africa, please check them out. It's fun to look at photos of old treasures!

Do you like antique shopping? I'm not hard core but I do like finding fun, interesting items.

Welcome to In The Studio, a place to show off your studio and meet some great artists! Earlier this week Joshua and I managed to take his 12 year old photos. I've learned over the years not to make this a stressful ordeal but a fun, simple time with me and him. We walk around our campus and find the best spots for the time of day. He makes suggestions. I try some things. It works beautifully, and no one seems to be frustrated in the end.

Below are the ones that he liked. I like them, too, but to be respectful of him and the fact that he's starting to care what photos of him are posted for all to see, I opted to only share the approved ones. :) Ah, this boy of mine is growing up.

Now it's your turn! Remember your "studio" can be anywhere. Let's celebrate each other's creativity by linking up and visiting as many as the other studios as you can. Check out the about post for more info and don't forget to grab the In The Studio button!

A few weeks ago, the kid's school put on a production of Peter Pan. Our Joshua played Peter Pan and, Emma Grace was one of the lost boys. Both did a fantastic job. The drama teacher did an excellent job of putting this play together with only 11 kids in the school!

Afterwards, the kids read poems they wrote about being a kid. They all did such a good job!

Welcome to In The Studio, a place to show off your studio and meet some great artists! So you might be wondering how a dead tree collection could be worthy of something coming out of a studio. In all honesty, my creative side has been a little dormant lately due in part to several things which are not worth discussing on this fine Friday. However, when we were in Kruger Park recently, my husband kept stopping the car to take photos of dead trees. We laughed. We got annoyed. We made fun of. But then I stopped to look and realized that there was a beauty in that leafless mass of sticks that stood in the wide open proudly displaying who it was and not ashamed of it.

There's probably a whole slew of analogies I could make here, but since I'm writing this when I should be letting my head hit the pillow, let's just stick with this one. If we look, we can find beauty in the ordinary. I'm in a season of learning to celebrate the little things. I think finding beauty in the everyday, ordinary, otherwise overlooked things in life, is learning to celebrate. The result is love and joy and peace, all things that I desperately need in my life right now.

I hope you enjoyed my dead tree collection at Kruger National Park. Look for the beauty in the ordinary this week!

Now it's your turn! Remember your "studio" can be anywhere. Let's celebrate each other's creativity by linking up and visiting as many as the other studios as you can. Check out the about post for more info and don't forget to grab the In The Studio button!

Today my oldest turns 12. The last year before we enter teenage status. I could talk about how fast the time has gone, but I realize that would be so cliché. Instead let's talk about how much this boy is maturing into a young man and how incredibly proud I am of him. He still loves a good LEGO set and a great book. I don't mind if those things never change, but as I've started to see different sorts of challenges that pre-teens might face, I've seen him face them with an honest to goodness "This is hard," but with a courage that says, "I can get through this."

I still love that great smile of his, that incredible sense of justice that he holds to, the way he can explain every.single.detail of the latest book on his nightstand, and the way he strives for excellence. I love who God created him to be.

About me

Creativity, adventure, family and love are a few of my favorite things. I have spent the last 22 years traveling the world in search of them. My husband and I co-founded, along with a friend, an organization called Ten Thousand Homes, a non-profit building futures and homes. In 2016, I started a social enterprise called The Reverie Guesthouse. I believe we can change the world. I have two beautiful children who teach me everyday. I enjoy writing and the occasional photo.